NBC Sports Announces MOTORSPORTS Coverage

NBC Sports Group presents more than 30 hours of motorsports coverage this week, highlighted by the IndyCar GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. ET on NBCSN, as Team Penske teammates Will Power and Helio Castroneves battle for the championship points lead in the penultimate race of the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series campaign. In addition, three-time IndyCar series champion, and current NASCAR driver Sam Hornish Jr., joins the NBCSN broadcast booth as an analyst in Sonoma this week.

NBC Sports Group's motorsports coverage also features the F1 Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday at 7:30 a.m. ET on NBCSN, Red Bull Global RallyCross action from Daytona on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, and the final race of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross season from the Utah National on Saturday on NBCSN and NBC Sports Live Extra.

NBCSN's coverage of the IndyCar GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma begins Saturday evening with live qualifying at 7:30 p.m. ET, followed by live race coverage on Sunday at 4 p.m. ET.

Last weekend, Will Power extended his lead in the points standings with his first career Milwaukee victory in the ABC Supply Wisconsin 250, and now leads teammate Helio Castroneves by 39 points in the standings after Castroneves finished 11th. Six drivers, including 2013 IndyCar Champion Scott Dixon (Target Chip Ganassi Racing) and 2012 IndyCar Champion Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti Autosport), are still alive in the title chase.

VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES POINTS STANDINGS

Rank

Driver (Team)

Points

Behind

Wins

Top 10

1

Will Power (Penske)

602

-

3

13

2

Helio Castroneves (Penske)

563

39

1

10

3

Simon Pagenaud (Schmidt Peterson)

510

92

2

11

4

Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti)

494

112

3

8

5

Juan Pablo Montoya (Penske)

488

116

1

7

6

Scott Dixon (Target Chip Ganassi)

472

130

1

10

These six drivers in contention will continue to jockey for positioning this weekend in preparation for the season finale at the MAVTV 500 IndyCar World Championships on Saturday, August 30. Next weekend's race will award double points, meaning a possible 100-point swing on the final day of the season.

Veteran motorsports voice Brian Till will call the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma. He will be joined by former IndyCar driver Paul Tracy, and current NASCAR driver and three-time IndyCar Series champion Sam Hornish Jr., who enters the NBCSN broadcast booth for the first time. Hornish Jr. has raced at Sonoma in both the IndyCar and NASCAR series, and boasts 19-career IndyCar victories.

Reporters Marty Snider, Kelli Stavast, Kevin Lee and Robin Miller will report from the pits. Lee will be joined byAnders Krohn and Jake Query to call the Indy Lights Sonoma race at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday, following the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma.

FORMULA ONE BELGIAN GRAND PRIX - SUNDAY AT 7:30 A.M. ET ON NBCSN

NBC Sports Group's comprehensive coverage of the F1 Belgian Grand Prix begins Friday morning with live coverage of Practice 1 at 4 a.m. ET on NBC Sports Live Extra, followed by NBCSN's coverage of Practice 2 at 8 a.m. ET.

Live Extra will present live coverage of Practice 3 on Saturday morning at 5 a.m. ET, and CNBC will present live coverage of qualifying at 8 a.m. ET. NBCSN will air an encore presentation of qualifying at 12:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, followed by the GP2 race from Belgium at 2 p.m. ET.

Most recently, Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) outpaced Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) to take the checkered flag at the Hungarian Grand Prix for his second victory of the year. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) currently holds an 11-point lead in the standings over teammate Lewis Hamilton, who earned the pole position in Belgium last year, and took the checkered flag at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in 2010.

Lead F1 announcer Leigh Diffey will call the Belgian Grand Prix, and will be joined by veteran analyst and former racecar driver David Hobbs, and analyst and former race mechanic for the Benetton F1 team Steve Matchett. F1 insider Will Buxton will serve as the team's on-site reporter from the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Francorchamps, Belgium, and will also call the GP2 race.

RED BULL GLOBAL RALLYCROSS DAYTONA - SATURDAY AT 2:30 P.M. ET ON NBC

NBC's coverage of the 2014 Red Bull Global RallyCross Championship continues weekend on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ET from Daytona International Speedway in Daytona, Fla. Ken Block (Hoonigan Racing) won at the series' most recent race in Charlotte in July, while Nelson Piquet Jr. (SH Racing) continues to lead Scott Speed(Volkswagen Andretti) in the points standings.

Motorsports commentator Toby Moody will call the action on Saturday on-site from Daytona International Speedway in Daytona, Fla., joined by former driver and analyst Tommy Kendall and reporter Kristen Kenney.

LUCAS OIL PRO MOTOCROSS UTAH NATIONAL - SATURDAY

NBCSN and NBC Sports Live Extra will combine to present six hours of Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Utah National coverage from Tooele, Utah, on Saturday. Coverage starts on Live Extra at 12:30 p.m. ET with practice, followed by the pre-race show at 2:15 p.m. ET. Race coverage begins at 3 p.m. ET on Live Extra with Moto 1s, followed by live coverage of the 250 Class of 2nd Motos at 5 p.m. ET on Live Extra, which will air on NBCSN at 6:30 p.m. ET. An encore presentation will air on NBCSN at 1 a.m. ET on Sunday.

Last weekend, Jeremy Martin clinched the 2014 250 Class title at the Indiana National, while and Ken Roczenextended his lead over Ryan Dungey in the 450 Class with a win in Crawfordsville. Roczen sits 20 points ahead of Dungey heading into the season finale this weekend.

NBCSN presents a new episode of the new reality series, Mecum Dealmakers, with highlights from their Seattle auction tonight at 10 p.m. ET. The series provides car enthusiasts with a unique, behind-the-scenes look at the high-intensity world of Mecum Auctions, President and Founder Dana Mecum and his son Frank Mecum work together to manage the high pressure of the auction floor, where buyers and sellers hope to make the deal of a lifetime, often with hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line.

NBCSN will air an encore presentation of Mecum Dealmakers: Indianapolis tonight at 9 p.m. ET, leading into the premiere of Mecum Dealmakers: Seattle.

NBCSN will also present a new episode of /DRIVE on NBC Sports on Thursday at 11 p.m. ET, following Mecum Dealmakers: Seattle. This week's episode features the story of a Ferrari Dino 246 GTS that was found buried in a backyard in Los Angeles, and host Chris Harris' drive in a new Ferrari LaFerrari through the Italian countryside and Ferrari's test track, Fiorano.

Following coverage of Practice 2 of the F1 Belgian Grand Prix, NBCSN will present the latest installment of Off The Grid on Friday morning at 10 a.m. ET. NBC Sports Group F1 insider Will Buxton and his producer, Jason Swales, provide an inside look at the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix, exploring the history of motorsport in Hungary, while visiting Budapest to experience the atmosphere away from the track.

The episode features in-depth interviews with McLaren's Jenson Button on the track at Hungaroring, where he earned his first Grand Prix win in 2006, and Marussia driver Jules Bianchi. Buxton also talks with F1 safety with safety car driver Bernd Maylander, and medical car duo Alan Van Der Merwe and Dr. Ian Roberts.

Motorsports Coverage This Week on NBC, NBCSN, CNBC and NBC Sports Live Extra (subject to change):

Date

Program

Time (ET)

Network

Thurs., August 21

NASCAR America

6:30 p.m.

NBCSN

Mecum Dealmakers: Kansas City (Encore)

8 p.m.

NBCSN

Mecum Dealmakers: Indianapolis (Encore)

9 p.m.

NBCSN

Mecum Dealmakers: Seattle

10 p.m.

NBCSN

/DRIVE on NBC Sports

11 p.m.

NBCSN

/DRIVE on NBC Sports (Encore)

11:30 p.m.

NBCSN

Fri., August 22

Motocross Highlight Series

12 a.m.

NBCSN

Mecum Dealmakers: Seattle (Encore)

1 a.m.

NBCSN

F1 Belgian Grand Prix - Practice 1

4 a.m.

NBC Sports Live Extra

F1 Belgian Grand Prix - Practice 2

8 a.m.

NBCSN

Motorsports Extra

9:30 a.m.

NBCSN

Off The Grid: Budapest

10 a.m.

NBCSN

Motorsports Extra (Encore)

6:30 p.m.

NBCSN

Sat., August 23

F1 Belgian Grand Prix - Practice 3

5 a.m.

NBC Sports Live Extra

F1 Belgian Grand Prix - Qualifying

8 a.m.

CNBC

F1 Belgian Grand Prix - Qualifying (Encore)

12:30 p.m.

NBCSN

Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Utah - Practice

12:30 p.m.

NBC Sports Live Extra

GP2 Belgium

2 p.m.

NBCSN

Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Utah - Pre-Race

2:15 p.m.

NBC Sports Live Extra

Red Bull Global RallyCross - Daytona

2:30 p.m.

NBC

Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Utah - 1stMotos

3 p.m.

NBC Sports Live Extra

Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Utah - 2ndMotos

5 p.m.

NBC Sports Live Extra

Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Utah

6:30 p.m.

NBCSN

IndyCar GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma - Qualifying

8 p.m.

NBCSN

Sun., August 24

Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Utah (Encore)

1 a.m.

NBCSN

F1 Belgian Grand Prix

7:30 a.m.

NBCSN

F1 Extra

10 a.m.

NBCSN

IndyCar GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma

4 p.m.

NBCSN

Indy Lights Sonoma

7 p.m.

NBCSN

MOTORSPORTS ON NBC SPORTS LIVE EXTRA: NBC Sports Live Extra - NBC Sports Group's live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, and tablets - will provide live streaming coverage of this week's IndyCar, F1, Global RallyCross, and Lucas Oil Pro Motocross races. The majority of coverage will be provided via "TV Everywhere," the media industry's effort to make quality content available to authenticated customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms.

For desktops, NBC Sports Live Extra can be accessed at http://www.nbcsports.com/liveextra. The NBC Sports Live Extra app for mobile devices and tablets is available at the App Store for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, and on select Android handset and tablet devices within Google Play.

Races airing on:

NBC will live stream to PCs, mobile devices and tablets through NBC Sports Live Extra;

NBCSN will live stream to PCs, mobile devices and tablets through NBC Sports Live Extra, and to the digital platforms of participating cable, satellite, and telco services, via "TV Everywhere," which is available on an authenticated basis to subscribers of participating MVPDs.

MOTORSPORTSTALK: MotorSportsTalk (@MotorSportsTalk) on NBCSports.com brings racing fans up-to-the-minute news, video and information on the Formula One, Verizon IndyCar Series, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and all other motorsports racing from around the world. The site also serves as the destination for all news, analysis and video from NBC and NBCSN productions of IndyCar and F1, including contributions from on-air commentators.

MotorSportsTalk's content is provided by top racing journalists and expert analysts, including:

Luke Smith is creator and editor at Richland F1, which begins its second season this year. He's on Twitter at@LukeSmithF1, primarily handling the F1 scene from Europe in great detail.

Tony DiZinno has most recently served as web editor for RACER Magazine and has more than seven years of experience in the industry. Follow him on Twitter at @TonyDiZinno.

Chris Estrada has written for NBCSports.com's MotorsportsTalk since its inception in 2013, and has been a contributor for various outlets, including the Boston Globe, IndyCar Nation and FoxSports.com. Follow him at @estradawriting.

Jerry Bonkowski is a veteran NASCAR reporter with more than 30 years of experience. He has contributed to USA Today, Yahoo! Sports and other websites over the course of his career. Follow him on Twitter@JerryBonkowski.